In 2021, this new species of Chameleon has been discovered in Madagascar. While other species of chameleons change color and live on trees, Brookesia nana is different from any other vertebrate and other chameleon species. It can’t change color, and it’s more comfortable on the forest floor than in trees.
World’s smallest reptile has been discovered
What Size is the Brookesia Nana?
These reptiles are extremely small. There are both male and female. Females are larger than the males as they need to carry the eggs. The male however measure less than an inch in length. They are significantly smaller than the female. In order to reproduce, he has to compensate in other ways. The unique chameleon is spotlighted in an article published last week in the journal Scientific Reports.
How Small Are These Reptiles?
According to Jonathan Lambert of Science News, Brookesia nana measures just under 30 millimeters from snout to tail. It may be the smallest reptile on Earth, researchers report January 28 in Scientific Reports. These species are typically the size of a sunflower seed and can grow to only about an inch.
The male has a total length of 22 mmg and the body is just 13.5 mm long. So it is the smallest adult reptile ever found.
All dwarf chameleons are well camouflaged in their habitat in the leaf litter of the forest floor. This is true for the Brookesia Nana, also known as Nano-Chameleon, as well as for the related species.
Furthermore, they move very slowly, so that predators have only a small chance to discover them.
Who Discovered These Small Creatures?
Like most of other dwarf chameleons, the Brookesia Nana occurs in a small area in northern Madagascar. In the Sorata massif, northern Madagascar, scientists discovered this new “nano-chameleon”. The species was discovered by herpetologist Frank Glaw and other German researchers in 2021 in a rainforest in Madagascar.
Why the Brookesia Nana also called ‘nano-chameleon’ is so unusual?
Reported by CNN, it is unusual for an adult vertebrate to remain this small. As vertebrates, which include mammals and reptiles, evolved, so did their size — extremely small animals like this chameleon were previously thought to “face physiological challenges that limit further size reductions.
As these reptiles mature, most vertebrates grow as well. However, this does not happen with the Brookesia Nana. As a result, they are an example of what is called paedomorphism, which is retention of juvenile characteristics in the adult, occurring in mammals. Today, scientists still do not understand as to why or how these chameleons stay so small. But no one is arguing about the fact that they are just adorable and can fit on the tip of your finger. Reproduction in these reptiles are explained in order to reproduce with the female, the male has hemipenes which is an internal sex organ that is exposed during breeding- that’s larger in size relative to his body compared to other chameleons, the researchers said.
